Chapter 190:

Ace got off his skateboard, and kicked it into the air, grabbing it in a firm grip with his right hand, where he was going, he may need to 'use' it.

He walked straight into the music - literally, there was loud music playing from what seemed to be a normal bar, and he walked right into the doorway. It was only when he was about to open, that a gigantic man came out. He had the build of a sumo wrestler, bordering on 2 metres tall, and weighing easily more than 200 kilograms, most of which was clearly bulky muscle.

He stared at Ace, and in Japanese asked, "What?", as he did so, he made a show of the signet ring he was wearing. "Nice ring.", Ace said with a smile, and then looking at the tall man straight in the eyes, he said, "I want to go in.", whilst showing a card he made a show off twirling in front of the man's face.

As the man saw the card, he widened his eyes slightly - but his change in expression was almost unseeable underneath the layer of fat. "Ok, go in.", he opened the door, and bowed his head lightly as Ace went past.

"Thank you."

***

The loud music that leaked out of the entrance, could now be heard in full swing, and Ace had to even dampen his enhanced hearing slightly, just so he could deal with the noise. It was a massive bar, with multiple floors. The building was constructed in a pentagonal format, with multiple floors, so that it extended almost to a short tower. Ace could see that on the higher floors, there were multiple VIP rooms, with tinted windows.

The main attraction, however, was a raised platform. The platform was covered in thin tatami mats, and was slightly larger than the regular mats for karate tournaments, instead of an 8-metre square, it was 10 by 10, and they fought on the 8 by 8 smaller square, with the regular two-metre separation between the edge of the big square, (full mat), and the square they fought in.

Within that mat, there was a man and a woman wailing on each other, as the loud music bleared, and the spectators wailed.

'Seems like the party is in full swing", Ace thought, as he observed the two fighters. The man was of regular size, but the woman was big, bigger than the man. She seemed to be trying to use her clearly greater strength to overpower the man, and almost succeeded when she put him in a clinch, and went for a takedown. He squirrelled out of it, however, and instead jabbed his thumb in her temple as a distraction for a kick in the ribs, and the liver punch that came afterwards.

The punch - which would have most likely ended the fight, did not connect, and instead, the woman grabbed the wrist, and dropped to the floor, back first, as she used her two feet to get the man's shoulder on a lock. She was successful, but instead of holding like someone would in tournaments, she instead put pressure in the balls of one foot, and the heel of the other, before jerking her hips, and pulling on the arm.

The sound of tearing tendons and muscle, seemed to quiet the spectators, until the woman sprang up, and kicked the wailing man in the face, knocking him out of commission. Then, they went crazy.

'Well… That was brutal, but I guess I expected nothing else.', Ace thought, as he surmised over the fight, whilst swirling the alcoholic beverage he had been handed by a random young woman. Ace knew better than to drink it, and just used the thin plastic straw to mix the drink endlessly, as he watched the woman jump out of the platform, and into a smaller passageway that took her through another door.

Instantly, two other fighters came up, this time, two women. Ace, however, noticed a group of three guys coming behind him, and he breathed out, relaxing his muscles, getting ready for anything that could happen.

As the rough hand pressed against his shoulder, Ace turned, whilst at the same time shimmying his shoulder, so that the hand lost its grip on his extremity. He smiled at the two men and women that came up at him, and noticed that instantly, people nearby moved out, creating a tight circle, and looking at them, even if the two fighters on stage were already wailing blows at each other.

Ace looked at each of the three adults that had come up to him, and with a smile asked, "What is it?", he observed each of their reactions, and while one of the men and the women had frowns on their faces, the man that was standing further back had a small smile on his face.

The woman looked him up and down, and said, "You wanna fight?"

"Well, why not?"

***

"So, are you eighteen?", a man who seemed like the boss of the place asked him. He was dressed in an expensive yet tacky suit. The four hairs on his head, plastered on his forehead, a mix of sweat and gel doing the job.

Ace nodded, setting a wad of money on the table, "Of course, I would not be here anyway."

The man did not even flinch, picked up the cash, put it inside his drawer, signed some papers, and nodded, "Ok, you are all set. Wait in the changing room, if you do not have clothes, we will have them for you. You will be checked for weapons before you go in, if you are found to have them, we will cut off your dominant hand, and brand you on the back of your dominant leg.", he motioned for Ace to leave, and before he did, he said, "Good luck."

***

Ace understood how these places worked, no protection, anything except weapons goes. He took off all his clothes, and out of his bag, removed the bottom part of a gi, putting on the heavy trousers. He ensured they were all in order, and walked out. There, three men checked him for weapons. Well, one did, the other two stood there, one with a machete, the other next to a fireplace, a brand in hand, 'So they definitely, don't hesitate, got it.'

As they led him out of the tunnel, and into the raised platform, Ace looked around. There were a lot more people there than he thought there would be. He also spotted some VIP boxes at the top, with tinted glass protecting the people inside from view.

Ace stood ramrod straight, hands at his sides, waiting for his opponent to arrive. To spectators, he seemed tense, eager, excited, dangerous feelings before a fight. However, Ace was feeling the complete opposite. In his mind, he imagined a lake, with no disruptions, a moore, hidden away by nature. Nothing disrupted his mental state. Not even the lumbering slab of meat that stomped onto the stage…

Nah, that was a joke, his opponent appeared to be a woman, more precisely, the woman from earlier, who had challenged him to a fight.

Before she could launch herself at him, Ace bowed formally, and went into a fighting position, before motioning that he was ready. She seemed like she couldn't care less, but hitting someone whilst bowed down, would not have good consequences for her, especially if he won the fight. Not that she had any doubts she would lose, he seemed like a lost, pretty, tourist kid, one that admittedly had good Japanese.

She launched herself at him, and then, came the darkness.

***

It had been disgustingly easy. She had just lunged at him as he got close, maybe thinking she was stronger or that he did not know how to fight. But a lightning-fast snap kick to the chin knocked her out seconds after the fight had started. Then, Ace bowed to each side of the stands, as he had been taught to do, and walked back through the tunnel.